AUTHOR’S POV
The circle of fire trembled, a living barrier of silver and crimson flame that hissed and spat against the suffocating night. Sparks leapt upward like frantic fireflies, yet instead of vanishing, they lingered in the air, hanging heavy as though unwilling to fade. The flames bent inward, as though bowing to a force greater than themselves, their movements jerky, frantic, desperate.
The earth beneath the wolves’ paws shivered, a low rumble rolling outward like the growl of something ancient awakening from centuries of silence. Soil cracked open, jagged veins spreading across the clearing, each vein glowing faintly with pulses of light, as though the earth’s very heart had begun to beat.
Overhead, the sky darkened with unnatural speed. Storm clouds churned in spirals of black
